You can appeal for any or all of the schools where you have been refused admission.
Your appeal will be heard by an appeal panel, independent of the school and us.
You should read our guidance before appealing.
Schools that handle their own appeals
The following schools handle their own appeals. You should contact the school directly for information on how to appeal.
Secondary schools
Primary schools
For all other schools the following applies.
Secondary appeals
If your appeal is for a child transferring to secondary school in September, you can appeal if your application was unsuccessful. You should do this within 20 school days of being notified of your decision.
If your appeal relates to an in-year admission you should submit your appeal within 20 school days of being told that your application was unsuccessful.
See guidance for making your secondary school admissions appeal.
Appeal secondary school admissions
Primary and junior appeals
If your appeal is for a child starting school for the first time or transferring from year 2 at an infant school to junior provision in September you can appeal if your application is unsuccessful.
If you are informed of a decision for reception or junior school for September or it relates to an in year admission, you should submit your appeal within 20 school days of being told that your application was unsuccessful.
See guidance for making your primary, infant and junior school admissions appeal.
Appeal primary, infant and junior school admissions
Appeals involving children entering infant classes (reception, year 1 and year 2)
Legislation limiting infant class sizes to a maximum of 30 came into effect in September 2001. Only in very limited circumstances can admission over the limit be permitted.
Admission authorities may therefore refuse to admit a child to a school where admission would breach the infant class size limit and there are no measures the authority could take to avoid this without prejudicing the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources. For example, such prejudice might be caused if the school had to take measures such as employing an extra teacher or building an extra classroom.
In infant class size appeals, the panel must follow a 2-stage decision-making process. At the first stage, it considers the following questions:
- would the admission of additional children breach the infant class size limit?
- do the school's published admission arrangements and the co-ordinated admission arrangements comply with the mandatory requirements set out in statute and in the school admissions code?
- were these correctly and impartially applied?
- was the decision to refuse admission one which a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances of the case (which the admission appeals code clarifies as meaning that the admission authority's decision was not 'perverse', or an 'outrageous...defiance of logic')?
If the panel finds that the answer to all these questions is 'yes', it must dismiss the appeal.
In multiple appeals, if the answer to any of these questions is 'no', but there are a number of children where this applies, the panel must move to a second stage where it compares each case.
It will decide which, if any, to uphold and where the school could admit a certain number of children without breaching the infant class size limit (or without needing to take measures to avoid breaching it that would prejudice the provision of efficient education or efficient use of resources) the panel must uphold the appeals of at least that number of children.
See guidance for making your primary, infant and junior school admissions appeal. You can also appeal primary, infant and junior school admissions.
Timescales for appeals being heard
For decisions notified on National Offer Days for secondary schools or for primary and junior schools, appeals must be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals.
For decisions relating to late applications notified after the National Offer Days, appeals should be heard with 40 school days from the deadline for lodging appeals where possible, or within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.
All other appeals must be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.
For a 6th form place, conditional on exam results, your appeal must be heard within 30 school days.
Parents will be given 10 school days’ notice of the date and arrangement of the appeals hearing.
The deadline by which the appellant must submit any further evidence is 6 days prior to the appeals hearing.
Admission authorities must submit their evidence 5 school days prior to the appeal hearing.
The clerk will send out the appeal papers at least 5 school days prior to the appeal hearing.
The clerk will notify the appellant of the decision within 5 school days of the appeal hearing.